Mehta: Doug Marrone’s petty, childish 2-point conversion attempt showed he clearly still harbors a grudge against Jets, the team that passed on him

September 30, 2018

JACKSONVILLE – Doug Marrone’s team had just put one final stake through the Jets’ collective hearts before the Jaguars coach channeled his inner weasel.

T.J. Yeldon’s one-yard touchdown run with 25 seconds left gave the Jaguars a 31-12 lead that obviously wasn’t in jeopardy.

Then, Marrone took a gratuitous, childish, petty shot at a team that he wanted to work for once upon a time.

Rather than kick the extra point – or just take a knee — Marrone opted to try a two-point conversion. Blake Bortles’ pass for Dede Westbrook was incomplete.

The game was obviously over, but Marrone, evidently still bitter over not getting the Jets head coaching job after he quit on the Buffalo Bills after the 2014 season, wanted to send a message to the organization that didn’t hire him. (Imagine if Bortles were injured on the play).

“I think it’s really disrespectful,” defensive lineman Leonard Williams said. “The game’s already over. They already have the game in the bag. All they could have done is run the clock out at that point. At the same time, I think it’s up to us to gain that respect from other teams. If teams are disrespecting us, it must say something about us. I took it really personal. And I didn’t like it at all.”

“That’s just what they felt they wanted to do,” outside linebacker Jordan Jenkins added. “Whether it was a statement or not, we’ll never know. But we won’t forget.”

Oh, we know. We all know exactly what Marrone was trying to do in the waning moments of a dominating performance by his team. No, it wasn’t enough for Marrone to take the win and show good sportsmanship.

“I don’t tell another guy to coach their team,” Todd Bowles said of the bush-league move by Marrone. “If they run it, they got to defend it.”

Marrone offered some lame excuse about banged-up players that prompted his classless act. He even delivered this beauty: “The chart said go for 2.”

So, in addition to coaching a legitimate Super Bowl contender, Marrone evidently is now Kevin Hart.

What a knee-slapper.

Although Marrone also claimed that “we’re not good enough to send a message right now,” you’d have to be the dumbest life form in the Milky Way to not believe that he sent a pointed message to Woody and Christopher Johnson for passing up on him four years ago after he bolted Buffalo with a cool $4 million in his pocket with an eye on the Jets vacancy.

The Jaguars rub in a big victory over Jets by going for two-point conversion after final touchdown. (Stephen B. Morton / AP)

“You know what? Step on their throats. That’s what I would want us to do,” wide receiver Quincy Enunwa said. “It’s football. Where’s the class in football? At the end of the day, we try to be warriors and have all this war mentality. So, if that’s how we want to be, then we can’t be upset when somebody does that… They did it, you know? If I was a head coach and I want to make a statement…. I’m going to let the guys know that, ‘We’re stepping on your throats.’ And that’s what he did.”

Said Avery Williamson: “Shoot, they wanted to put the icing on the cake. That’s their call.”

Truth be told, you know that Marrone was just itching to stick it to the Jets last season at MetLife Stadium. He certainly would have done precisely that, but he gagged away that game with horrific play calling after having first and goal from the Jets 6-yard line in the final few minutes of regulation. The Jets won in overtime.

“I think it’s really disrespectful. The game’s already over. They already have the game in the bag.”

Leonard Williams

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So, Marrone held on to the grudge for one more year. It was unnecessary for a guy who has one of the most talent-rich teams in the league. The Jaguars out-played, out-coached and out-everythinged the Jets Sunday.

Marrone deserves credit for the rout. His team won fair and square. Jacksonville is a terrific team that has what it takes to make a true Super Bowl run.

There was no need to act like a five-year-old.

Maybe he’s better than that. Maybe he’s not.

It was garbage either way.

NOTES:

Bilal Powell and Isaiah Crowell combined for 26 yards on 12 carries. (Crowell gained zero yards on four carries and was tackled in the end zone for a safety on the Jets’ first offensive play of the third quarter.

The Jets averaged just 3.5 yards per play.

**

Outside linebacker Josh Martin, who had missed the first three games with a concussion, didn’t return after suffering a head injury in the third quarter.